This study empirically analyzes the effect of IT SME ventures’ external information network diversity on their production period reduction and productivity improvement generated from technology development. This research constructs a mediating model based on the open innovation perspective and tests it with the 138 samples of South Korean IT SME ventures based on the ordinary least squares regression. This research is expected to make a good contribution by shedding a new light on the following three points about the critical role of IT SME ventures’ external information network diversity in increasing their production period reduction and productivity improvement generated from technology development which has scarcely been illuminated in the extant studies in the field of the management of technology for SMEs. First, IT SME ventures’ external information network diversity positively influences their production period reduction. Second, the external information network diversity positively influences IT SMEs’ ventures’ productivity improvement. Third, IT SME ventures’ production period reduction partially mediates the influence of IT SME ventures’ external network diversity on their productivity improvement. These three fresh points are expected to provide useful theoretical and practical implications. Related to the theoretical implication, this research provides a fresh implication that IT SME ventures’ external information network diversity positively influences not only their production period reduction but also productivity improvement generated from technology development. Concerning the practical implication, this study suggests that the CEOs in IT SME ventures make strategic efforts to use more diverse external information sources in order to increase their production period reduction and productivity improvement generated from technology development.

• Yong Sauk Hau(School of Business, Yeungnam University) | 허용석 Corresponding Author